A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Monday, September 13, 2010

Saudi Women Drivers Do Exist

Arab News has a piece noting that in Saudi rural areas, it's not uncommon to find women drivers, despite the Kingdom's ban on women driving. This seems to be taken fairly much for granted by some of the people, male and female, interviewed in the article.

Campaigns to overturn the ban by women's activists are frequent and there have been claims that King ‘Abdullah may favor repeal, but the ban has remained in place. Ironically, as has often been poin\ted out by reformers, Saudi women often have to depend on foreign male drivers, thus placing them in a car with a man who is not a family member, a major taboo.

No comments: